


Let My Love In

by FallingLikeThis



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Break Up, M/M, Makeup, it's more tragic, off-screen original character death, well it's not accidental really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-31
Updated: 2015-10-31
Packaged: 2018-04-29 05:49:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5117744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FallingLikeThis/pseuds/FallingLikeThis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>“I’m sorry, guys,” Harry tells them, looking both confused and apologetic. “I have to go home. A friend of mine was in an accident and there’s things… I don’t really know what’s going on but I have to go.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>They don’t even get the chance to show sympathy or anything and Harry is already turning to leave. He doesn’t even take a minute to lean on his boyfriend, let Louis attempt to comfort him even just a little. He barely even looks at Louis before he stalks off down the corridor.</em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let My Love In

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ashleywritesthings](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashleywritesthings/gifts).



> To my prompter: I hope this was somewhere along the lines of what you wanted. :)
> 
> Title is from "Lay it All On Me" by Rudimental ft. Ed Sheeran.

 

 

Harry’s been acting weird all night.

He’d started off all right, energized and primed for another amazing concert. Sometime after the second song he’d disappeared off-stage for a few minutes and he’s been… Louis doesn’t even know an adequate word to describe it. Distracted, maybe. He’s not acting like himself, that’s for sure.

Louis tries to get his attention a few times without having to walk over to Harry’s side of the stage. He doesn’t want to ruin the choreography or deal with the hysteria that will inevitably follow if he breaks away from their usual routine but the way Harry’s behaving, Louis is almost willing to risk it. Something is obviously wrong with his boyfriend.

Liam sees it too and gives a minute shrug when Louis throws a questioning glance his way. He doesn’t know what’s wrong either. Niall is stepping up and trying to fill in all the gaps where Harry would usually say something or interact with the audience. He’s such a pro, doing his best to act like it’s business as usual. Louis almost doesn’t notice the tension in his shoulders as he announces the next song and he thinks people don’t give Niall nearly enough credit for how amazing he is at working a crowd.

They all revolve around Harry for the rest of the show. Not in the normal way. Harry brings the life, the joy, to their shows. This time he’s barely managing to phone it in and they all do their best to cover for him, it’s not an easy task considering there are thousands of eyes on them but they do what they can. When they go off stage before the encore, Louis thinks maybe they can get some answers then but Harry’s on his phone, making a call and no one is willing to interrupt. He looks worried, anxious, sad. Louis hates it. He’s so frustrated that he doesn’t know what’s wrong or what to do about it.

They go back onstage, all wearing forced smiles and sing another three songs. Louis doesn’t know how they get through it, but they do. And then they’re thanking everyone for coming and the show is over. A profound sense of relief settles over Louis once they’re off the stage, everyone crowding around Harry to find out what’s bothering him.

“I’m sorry, guys,” Harry tells them, looking both confused and apologetic. “I have to go home. A friend of mine was in an accident and there’s things… I don’t really know what’s going on but I have to go.”

They don’t even get the chance to show sympathy or anything and Harry is already turning to leave. He doesn’t even take a minute to lean on his boyfriend, let Louis attempt to comfort him even just a little. He barely even looks at Louis before he stalks off down the corridor.

With Harry gone and Louis still staring after him, Niall and Liam shuffle closer to Louis. He doesn’t really like to be touched when he’s frustrated (unless Harry’s helping him relieve it) and they know it so they get as close as they can without being bothersome.

“I hope everything’s alright,” Niall mutters, still clutching his guitar.

“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Liam says and Louis’ pretty sure that’s Liam’s attempt at comforting _him_.

Louis gives Liam a glance in acknowledgement and a small flash of a grateful smile before he’s back to staring at where Harry disappeared. “I hope so.”

~@~

 

This is _bullshit_. Harry’s decided to take a few months off in the middle of their fucking tour and Louis had to find out from their _management team_?!? His own boyfriend didn’t have the balls to call him and tell him like a freaking adult.

Then again, Harry’s not exactly been available very often the last few days. Or _at all_. Louis got one call in the middle of the night the day after Harry went back to Holmes Chapel. He’d called in tears because his friend had died and Louis had felt his heart break a bit at the sorrow that colored Harry’s words. They’d stayed on the phone for about an hour, Louis just letting Harry be sad, encouraging him to let it all out. And then they’d shared ‘I love you’s and ‘I miss you’s and hung up.

Louis had felt sorry for the loss of Harry’s friend but reassured that he finally had some answers, that he’d finally been able to offer Harry some kind of solace.

And now he’s dealing with _this bullshit_?

He tries calling Harry again but doesn’t get an answer. Of course he doesn’t. He leaves a voicemail this time, telling Harry in no uncertain terms that he needs to call Louis immediately if he doesn’t want to be castrated the next time Louis lays eyes on him.

Harry calls an hour later.

“Harold,” Louis greets curtly.

“Hi, Louis,” Harry returns in a whisper. He sounds apprehensive. As he damn well should.

“Care to tell me _why_ you’re taking a break in the middle of our tour or do I have to hear _that_ from management too?” Louis snipes, hating how angry he is, how petulant he sounds.

Harry sighs. “I’m sorry, Louis. I have a really good reason, I promise. I just… can’t tell you yet.”

Louis scoffs. “You can’t tell your _boyfriend_? And why are you whispering?”

“I… um, m-my mum is asleep on the couch.”

The stutter makes Louis lose his breath. Is Harry _lying to him_? Is there someone there who isn’t Harry’s mum?

The familiar prick of unwanted tears burn the corners of his eyes at the thought that Harry could possibly be with someone else right now. Maybe they’re “helping” him through his grief.

“Harry, please,” Louis begs, voice plaintive with need. “Just tell me what’s going on.”

“Louis, I—” Harry cuts himself off for a second and it feels like he searching for the right words. “I just need some time.”

Wrong words. Louis’ eyes narrow as anger grows where his anxiety used to be. “Fine. You want to keep your secrets? You want some _time_ , Harry? Take all the time in the world. I’m done.”

“Wait. What do you—”

Louis hangs up before Harry can finish and doesn’t answer when Harry calls back seconds later.

He turns his phone off after the fifth call, righteous anger burning in his bones.

He grabs his jacket from the hook by the front door and calls Niall to go out with him, he’s going to get spectacularly drunk.

 

~@~

 

Niall left a while ago because he’d already had plans. He’d come out with Louis just because he was a good mate and always up for a pint. Louis didn’t tell him that he and Harry had broken up. He didn’t tell him that he thought Harry might be finding his comfort in the arms of another. He didn’t say much of anything other than the name of his drink as he’d ordered it and some idle chit chat about the football match on the telly over the bar. Niall had been too distracted checking his phone all night to notice.

Louis thinks it’s better this way. He doesn’t have to explain why he isn’t shutting down the cute blonde guy that’s flirting with him. Or why he’s maybe, possibly, encouraging it. He doesn’t have to tell Niall about the gaping void in his chest that he’s drunk enough to think he can try to fill with the company of a stranger.

He lets the blonde buy him a few drinks and follows him to his car when he suggests “getting out of here”. He straps himself into the guy’s car with every intention of going home with him, a fair amount of anger still simmering in his blood.

The guy smiles at him and turns on the radio as he drives.

Louis recognizes the song that’s on immediately. _One_ by Ed Sheeran. He listens and can’t help but feel the lyrics resonate within that void in his chest.

_Take my hand and my heart and soul, I will only have these eyes for you. And you know that everything changes but we’ll be strangers if we see this through. You could stay within these walls and bleed or just stay with me…_

Louis can’t do it. He can’t go home with this guy. Not when he still loves Harry so fucking much. Not when he’ll _always_ love Harry. Only Harry. Fuck, he wants to spend forever with the bastard.

“Pull over,” He orders the guy.

“Is something wrong?” he asks but does as Louis says.

When they’re safely parked at the curb, Louis unbuckles.

“You seem really nice and I’m sure you deserve better than this but I have an ex I’m still in love with that I need to go buy a ring for,” Louis leans over and kisses the guy on the cheek before darting out of the car. “I’m really sorry,” he calls as he runs back the way they came.

 

~@~

 

_“Louis, baby, please. I didn’t mean it like that. I don’t want to break up. I didn’t— I don’t need that kind of time. Please call me back.”_

_“Louis, don’t do this. Please, not now. I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry. Please, baby.”_

_“Look, I’ll never keep a secret again, I promise. Louis, please pick up the fucking phone. [crying] God, please… I love you.”_

_“I need you.”_

Louis has tears running down his face by the time he’s listened to the last of Harry’s messages. He sounds so fucking heartbroken. Kind of like Louis feels.

He’s so ashamed of himself that he puts off calling Harry right away. He wants to call but he doesn’t want to hear the cracks in Harry’s tone, the fissures of sadness that _he_ caused. He’s so fucking stupid. Harry has never given Louis any reason not to trust him and Louis still let his frustrations dictate everything else when they spoke on the phone. He _knows_ beyond a shadow of any doubt that Harry would _never_ hurt him, he’d never cheat. He deserves so much better than Louis. But Louis is just selfish enough to try to keep Harry anyway. Forever if he can.

Ring burning a hole in his pocket, heart lodged somewhere in his throat, Louis decides that a phone call isn’t nearly good enough for the apology he owes Harry. Instead, he gets on the internet and orders a plane ticket.

 

~@~

 

“Louis?”

Harry looks surprised to see him.

Almost as surprised as Louis is to see a baby in Harry’s arms.

“Who’s this?” Louis asks, hand outstretched to tickle the little cherub Harry is holding. She grabs Louis’ index finger and babbles at him, drool spilling down her chin a little. She’s absolutely adorable.

Harry exhales deeply, pushing the door open a little wider and stepping aside. “Come inside, Lou. There are things we should talk about.”

“I know. Look, Harry, I’m—”

“Can you please just come inside, Louis?” Harry cuts him off. He keeps his eyes on the baby and Louis recognizes the tremble of his lips. Harry’s trying really hard to keep it together right now.

Louis steps inside without a word. He’ll do whatever it takes to make things easier on Harry. He doesn’t know what’s wrong but he knows he hasn’t made it better.

“Thank you,” Harry says quietly, pushing the door closed and leading the way to the living room.

Louis stays standing as Harry sits down on the couch, baby held tight to his chest like he’s not quite ready to put her down.

“You might want to sit for this, Louis,” Harry tells him, one hand rubbing over the soft hair on the baby’s tiny little head. She turns to watch Louis with a fist in her mouth.

“Can I apologize first?” Louis asks. He really doesn’t want to spend another second without telling Harry how badly he feels about what he said, the things he did or _almost_ did. He just wants to bare his soul to Harry and hope that Harry will still want him.

Harry’s eyes trail over his face and then fall to the baby in his arms. “You don’t have anything to apologize for. I shouldn’t have kept anything from you. You’re my best friend. At the very least, I should have told you just because of that but you were also my boyfriend. You deserved to know. I went about this all wrong.”

Louis shakes his head and moves to sit next to his… Harry. “No, baby. I’m so sorry. None of this is your fault. I’ve never been very patient. It was just hearing that you weren’t coming back right away _from management_ and not being able to get you on the phone. It was driving me crazy knowing that I couldn’t help you through whatever you were going through. And then, when I finally got you on the phone and you said you were whispering because your mum was asleep… I knew you were lying, Harry, and my mind took it to the worst possible place.”

Harry’s eyes widen as he realizes what Louis is saying. “You thought I cheated on you.”

“People do strange things when they’re grieving,” Louis says raising a shoulder in a half-shrug, eyes on his hands because he’s so ashamed he could ever think that about Harry even for a second. “And that thought hurt more than anything I’ve ever felt before, Haz. I didn’t handle it well. I’m sorry. I know you’d never cheat. I _know that_. But I let myself believe for a minute that you might, so I went a little nuts and broke up with you before you could leave me. And then I had Niall go out drinking with me.”

Louis knows there’s more he needs to say but he’s hesitant to say it, to tell Harry how he could have ruined everything. How he might have ruined everything anyway.

“Do they all think I cheated on you?” Harry asks, he won’t look at Louis but Louis can only manage small glances at Harry so he can’t say much.

“No. They don’t even know we fought,” Louis tells him quietly and then takes a deep, steadying breath, closes his eyes and spills the rest. “I almost went home with someone that night. After Niall left. But I couldn’t. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to be with someone that isn’t you, Harry. And I don’t want to. You’re it for me. Always.”

He’s afraid to look at Harry after his confession but more afraid not to. Harry staring at him, a mix of sadness and relief on his face, eyes on the verge of tears. Harry leans into his space and kisses him softly, gently, the baby squealing with delight between them. He pulls back with a little smile on his face though his eyes still convey uncertainty. “Hold that thought.”

“As long as you need me to,” Louis promises even though he has no idea what he’s promising for. It doesn’t matter, nothing Harry says will change the way he feels.

“It’s my turn to share my secret,” Harry tells Louis and holds the baby forward, hands under her armpits making her stand on his knees. “Louis, I’d like you to meet Amelia Grace Harrington. Her mother, my friend Catherine, passed away a few days ago and she wanted me to raise Amelia if anything happened to her. So, Amelia is my daughter, if I choose to adopt her.”

“Wow,” Louis blurts, eyes wide with the importance of the news Harry has just given him. “That’s… a lot.”

“I know,” Harry agrees, looking at Louis worriedly. “It’s why I was afraid to tell you. And I knew, if you saw her, you’d get attached, Lou. I didn’t want to have to break your heart if I didn’t keep her.”

“Are you going to?” Louis asks, pushing a few curls behind Harry’s ear. He can see now how exhausted Harry looks as he pulls Amelia back to his chest. Poor thing. And Louis left him when he needed the most help.

“I want to. I’m already absolutely in love with her.” Harry smiles at Amelia and she giggles back, pushing a fist into one of his dimples. “But I don’t know how I possibly can. We’re on the road 90% of the time and when we’re not… How am I going to have time for a baby, Louis?”

“Harry, you know that with me and the lads, you’ll never have to do anything alone, yeah? There will always be someone around to watch her while we’re on tour, and we’ll be going on a break when this tour is over. You definitely have time for a baby,” Louis offers, putting a soothing hand on Harry’s thigh. “ _We_ definitely have time for a baby.”

Harry looks at him, biting a lip uncertainly. “You still want—”

“You know nothing, Harry Styles, if you think I don’t want a family with you,” Louis smirks, leaning in to kiss Harry again. “This means you’re my boyfriend again, right?”

Harry smiles against Louis’ lips. “Always.”

“ _Well_ , we could upgrade you, if you want,” Louis says with a nonchalant shrug.

“Huh?” Harry pulls back, confused.

“You could be my fiancé instead.” Louis pulls the velvet box out of his pocket. He opens it under Harry’s watchful gaze.  “I mean, I knocked you up. The least I can do is marry you.”

Harry stares at the white gold band in the little box Louis’ holding for a good thirty seconds and Louis starts worrying that he’s gotten this all wrong. He closes the box and moves to put it back in his pocket. He’s still searching for words that won’t feel awkward when Harry catches his wrist with the hand not hugging Amelia.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

Louis winces at the harshness of Harry’s tone. “I’m sorry. I should have known it was a bad time or I should have been more romantic, I just thought—”

Harry cuts off Louis’ self-deprecating babbling. “If you don’t put that ring on my finger right this second, I’m calling off the wedding.”

Louis freezes. “Is that a yes?”

“You know nothing, Louis Tomlinson, if you think I don’t want to be married to you _yesterday_ ,” Harry says with a sly grin.

Louis puts the ring on Harry’s finger.

He stays the night at Harry’s place and they reaffirm their love, as Amelia sleeps soundly in his bassinet in the next room. Louis asks Harry to marry him five more times before the night is over and each time it revs Harry up even more than the last. Of course, half the time he’s revved up with no place to go when Amelia wakes up fussing. They take turns taking care of her or sometimes just go together. If this is family life, Louis thinks he can definitely get used to it because Harry was right, Louis would be absolutely heartbroken if they didn’t keep that sweet little girl.

 

~@~

 

“Where is she? Let me see her!” Niall pushes through the bodies crowding around Harry and his daughter.

Everyone was so excited when they heard there was going to be a new baby on the tour. They’d absolutely loved helping Lou with Lux when she was a baby, and then Caroline with Brooklyn. Babies were a constant source of joy to all of them.

“Look at that. You’re a beauty, aren’t ya?” Niall speaks to Amelia as he sweeps her up in his arms, stealing her from Harry before he can put up much of a protest. “You’re gonna love my nephew, Theo. And by love, I mean marry. You’re gonna marry ‘im. He’s the only lad I can guarantee will treat you right, so he’s your only option.”

“She’s a little young to be marrying off, Niall,” Louis tries to argue.

“Nope. Only the best for my little Amelie, you’ll thank me later,” Niall promises, taking Amelia to play with some old blocks that Lux used to play with.

“You think his biological clock is ticking?” Harry asks, amused as he watches Niall playing with his daughter.

“Either that or he’s gone mad,” Louis answers with a shrug.

“Either is a good bet at this point,” Liam adds from behind them startling them both. “Good to have you back, Haz. This is crazy.”

Harry accepts Liam’s hug and quiet congratulations on his engagement, Louis standing proudly by his side.

 

~@~

 

Tour life is pretty much the same. Little to no sleep at times but there are kindhearted people around them that are willing to watch Amelia when Harry desperately needs to sleep or Louis looks like he is ready to pull out his hair.  The only difference is that their level of happiness grows exponentially. Everyone loves Amelia and they’re fairly certain that she loves everyone too. She hadn’t taken a shine to Uncle Simon the two times she’d met him but then, even the most trusting people have trouble trusting that face.

Liam is a smiley puddle of goo in Amelia’s adorable little hands but Niall is the one that is wrapped around her finger. He is surprisingly good with her and Louis is almost willing to bet that it won’t be long before Niall is looking to become a daddy too.

_Wow, daddy_. Harry is a daddy. And by default Louis is too. Or will be, when they get married and Louis adopts her.

Louis thought a long time ago that all his dreams had come true. Then, he’d fallen in love with Harry and Harry had loved him back and he’d thought _then_ that all his dreams had come true. Now, here he is, getting ready to marry the man of his dreams and getting the most perfect daughter in the universe in one fell swoop.

They say the third time’s the charm, and Louis is fairly certain that, whoever ‘they’ are,  they’re absolutely right.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. :)
> 
> If I left anything out in the tags please let me know.


End file.
